William Hill unveils ‘Balance’ return-to-work strategy
UK bookmaker appoints new chief people officer and invites colleagues to work up to 80% of working month outside of the office
William Hill has launched a new back-to-work strategy called Balance which allows colleagues to work up to 80% of their working month outside of the office, role and location permitting.
Balance was successfully launched internally in October 2020 and will officially come into practice in the UK on 19 July to coincide with the government’s lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
The scheme was born out of William Hill’s internal surveys, including the ‘Big Conversation’ initiated in June of last year to explore employee feedback related to working from home.
Balance – a key part of William Hill’s new people strategy – came into force in Gibraltar in May and Bulgaria in August, with Malta to follow in September. Manilla and Poland will join later this year.
EGR understands William Hill staff that work in Gibraltar but live in Spain will only be entitled to work from home around 20% of the time due to corporation tax reasons.
The UK bookmaker will unveil more details of its new “want to join, love to stay” people strategy in due course following the July appointment of Mark Skinner as chief people officer.
Mark Skinner
Skinner has worked for William Hill since 2016 when he joined the company as head of HR for technology and employee engagement.
“We wanted to create a two-way, high-trust culture tied to our values that empowers colleagues to work flexibly in a way that suits them,” Skinner told EGR.
“Our colleagues were telling us they wanted more balance in their lives and we certainly haven’t seen any dips in productivity.
“There can only be upside for employee wellbeing and families wanting to spend more time with each other, and we’ve found that really helps to create an engaged workforce,” he added.